The poll also shows a majority of voters aren't familiar enough with Burke to form an opinion.

Days after Walker's State of the State address in Madison, the survey shows over 50% of voters think the state is headed in the right direction while 40% said it's on the wrong track. Monday's results indicate sentiment has not changed drastically since last time the question was asked, two weeks before a recall election in June 2012, when 52% of respondents said the state was headed in a good direction and 44% said it was not.

The survey was conducted almost entirely before Walker's address to the Badger state last week, where he announced a larger than expected budget surplus in the state.

Forty-nine percent said the state's budget is in better shape than it was a few years ago, 26% said it's the same and 20% said it's worse than before.

Walker, first elected in 2010, gained national notoriety from conservatives after surviving the recall effort sparked by a budget-balancing initiative that stripped collective bargaining rights from most public unions. After an over year-long battle within the state, Walker beat Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, 53% to 46%.

Walker is the first governor to survive a recall.

The poll was conducted between January 20-23 among 802 registered Wisconsin voters with a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Dropped a bit then, hasn't he? As it looks today, he may well win reelection. I suspect the Koch brothers will be using as much influence as necessary to keep their golden boy in office.

January 27, 2014 05:00 pm at 5:00 pm |

wmontanye

it's all just a matter of who gets out and votes....

January 27, 2014 05:17 pm at 5:17 pm |

rob

I'm surprised CNN even had this article today. However I'm not surprised by this quote:

"The survey was conducted almost entirely before Walker's address to the Badger state last week, where he announced a larger than expected budget surplus in the state"

This is the only mention from CNN about Scot Walker's economic success in Wisc. The democrats, the Unions and their supporters in the liberal media like CNN went after him and other brave Conservatives in 2012. They claimed the sky would fall if Walker's policies were employed. The dems and the Union poured millions of outside money into wisc. to defeat him but they failed because Walker knew they he was right and he stuck to his guns.

The reason you don't hear about the huge success in Wisc is because it is a HUGE SUCCESS and the media will suppress the story, ignore the story and would rather focus hours of coverage to a few traffic cones moved around on a New York bridge then let the public see what happens when conservative economic policies are enacted.

January 27, 2014 05:22 pm at 5:22 pm |

smith

Maybe Wisconsin folks are finally learning unions are junk and could care less about their members.

January 27, 2014 05:26 pm at 5:26 pm |

smith

@Lynda-I suppose George Soros will be using his billions to support anyone who runs against Walker.

January 27, 2014 05:28 pm at 5:28 pm |

Malory Archer

I'm sure these polls are skewed, right conservatives? LOL

January 27, 2014 05:38 pm at 5:38 pm |

Lisa P.

"The poll was conducted between January 20-23 among 802 registered Wisconsin voters with a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In other words, the poll was taken during the period of maximum hype/minimum truth-telling about the supposed budget surplus. And even then Walker couldn't top 50% against Burke, whom 64% of those polled admitted they didn't know enough about to say if they regarded her favorably or unfavorably. In fact, 49% said they regarded Scott Walker favorably, but only 47% said they would vote for him. Go figure. Seems like 7% of the people who think that Wisconsin is going in the right direction aren't giving Walker any credit for that either, or at least not enough to vote for him. Could it be that they've noticed that Governor Walker's "laser-like focus on jobs" always turns into a political attack on small businesses, working people and the poor? That what improvement there has been in Wisconsin is part of a national rising tide and not Governor Walker's self-serving "bold" reforms?

Stay tuned - this election ain't over by a long shot, yet!

January 27, 2014 05:40 pm at 5:40 pm |

MaryM

Just wait till the Majority of Wisconsins get out and Vote.

January 27, 2014 05:54 pm at 5:54 pm |

Lisa P.

rob

I'm surprised CNN even had this article today. However I'm not surprised by this quote:

"The survey was conducted almost entirely before Walker's address to the Badger state last week, where he announced a larger than expected budget surplus in the state"

This is the only mention from CNN about Scot Walker's economic success in Wisc. The democrats, the Unions and their supporters in the liberal media like CNN went after him and other brave Conservatives in 2012. They claimed the sky would fall if Walker's policies were employed. The dems and the Union poured millions of outside money into wisc. to defeat him but they failed because Walker knew they he was right and he stuck to his guns.

The reason you don't hear about the huge success in Wisc is because it is a HUGE SUCCESS and the media will suppress the story, ignore the story and would rather focus hours of coverage to a few traffic cones moved around on a New York bridge then let the public see what happens when conservative economic policies are enacted.
January 27, 2014 05:22 pm at 5:22 pm
-----------------------------

Actually we're growing at half the rate of the national economy, and the reason Walker won the recall had a lot more to do with $45 million dollars in outside money (vs. $14 million from various unions in and out of state), generally traced back to the Koch brothers through one circuitous path or another, and the focus-group tested message that even though Scott Walker had lied about his intentions during the 2010 campaign, he hadn't done anything bad "enough" to merit being recalled.

You don't hear anything about a "huge success" in Wisconsin because there hasn't been any "huge success", except in lying and repeating lies loudly enough and often enough that a majority of the people believed them some of the time, and some of the people have swallowed the bait whole. I think you know what President Lincoln said about that. The rest of us aren't going to be fooled again. Don't you be either.

January 27, 2014 06:00 pm at 6:00 pm |

rob

Lisa P.
Wisc has a surplus of close to 1 billion dollars most of which Walker is proposing to give back in tx cuts to the people who the money belongs to. They are creating jobs and improving the economy and making Wisc. a place to start business. The Dems and the Unions and the lap dog media said this could never happen. They tried to scare people into voting against Walker in the recall in which he won with a bigger margin then when he was first elected. The voters in Wisc. did not fall for the usual liberal dem campaigns of lies and smears and demonizing.

Secondly you mentioned the (que the scary music) Koch Brothers. For all yours and others conspiracy theories about them, I have two words for you...George Soros

The people who vote for these fools also believe that to solve extreme inequality, you must funnel yet more money to the top. absolutely zero evidence or statistics to back it, quite the opposite has been proven time and time again.

January 27, 2014 07:03 pm at 7:03 pm |

Thomas

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has a slight edge over his Democratic opponent in the state's 2014 gubernatorial contest.

Thank you citizens United , it's all about the money !

Walker is about as sleazy as they come , the Rick Scott, Rick Perry of the North .

January 27, 2014 09:50 pm at 9:50 pm |

S. B. Stein

The problem for voters is that he never agreed that he would serve the full term. I don't think he is a good choice because he failed to understand the needs of the workers that are to act on the policy that he wants to do.

January 27, 2014 10:52 pm at 10:52 pm |

Tommy G

Democrats only know how to run cities and states into the gutter. Endless taxes that they funnel to their union supporters to bribe them for their votes, campaign donations and free campaign labor. It is a criminal kickback conspiracy that the government refuses to prosecute and the voters are finally catching on to after so many cities and states have run up massive debts, even with very high tax rates. Break the cycle of Democrat-union corruption, vote Republican for people that look out for the taxpayers, not the corrupt unions.

January 28, 2014 01:59 am at 1:59 am |

Hooper

Here's another egomaniac believing he has the proper stance to be president. The biggest trouble with this creep, the fact he looks like he'd just escaped for a prison somewhere, where the mentally insane are kept for safe keeping. He just don't look right. Kinda nuts.